Weak
by Fionn Whelan
Summary: Mystique, now human, is all alone in San Francisco. But an encounter with a small group of mutants revives her will to live. Rating may change. language, sex, violence. Be warned.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Weak

I looked at myself that morning. My relfection-my face, but not _mine_. The eyes were green, not yellow; the skin was smooth and pale; my hair was auburn, no longer red. A prisoner of flesh I was not even born into, I am no longer myself. No longer Mystique. I am, for the first time for real, Raven Darkholme. I am weak.

I'd have killed myself long ago for what I've become, but then, Mystique, that which I once was, who I truly am, though now entombed in this poisoned flesh, would die along with me, vanishing without issuing so much as a wimper. Mystique, I, cannot let that happen. Even if I look like them always now, even if I am as powerless as them, I will not succumb to the humans' mental weakness.

Homo sapiens. Weak, ignorant, hateful. I now am one of them, not by my choosing. I now live amongst those who once rejected me at first sight, who chased me, hated me, tried to kill me like a dog. None of them, none, would suspect who I once was, what I was.

I work as a secretary, an underling. I type, answer phones, make copies and coffee, nine to five, every day. Locked into their world, I am but one of many cogs in a larger machine, perfectly expendable, perfectly replaceable, and utterly forgetable.

I was walking homethat night.Alone. I was always alone.Eric, the others, had abandoned me, rejected me.I seek nocompanionshipfrom these cattle.Whatwould they see in me? One of them. Another mediocrite.

I hadn't eaten indays. I was trying to see how long it would take for this new weak flesh tofail me, or force my will into submission with pain and frailty,forcing meto eat.That was probably why they overpowered me so quickly. Three men, lurching out from the alleyway. San Francisco's a dangerouscity, and I was an idiot to be walking around, starving and sickly, unarmed, alone, lost in my thoughts. Theyclocked me over the head and pulled me into thealley. As thing came into focus, I realised what they were trying to do, and struggled. I tried to call out, but a grimy handclapped over my mouth, and one of the brutes hissed into my ear, spittle flying all over, "Shut up, bitch! Thiswon't take long."

I keptstruggling, but I knew that I was doomed. Ifelt my skir_t b_eing pulledup, my underwear tugged down, heard the clicking of a belt._This is_ _how it all ends_,I thought. Then, just as the wretch was about to violate me, he screamed, and was pulled into the air. The other two, who holding my arms, looked up, shrieking. I tried to see what had happened, but they still held me. I heard something hit the ground behind me. The two screamed, and let me go. I fell forward against the wall. I turned and saw the body of the the man. His throat was torn open. Something dark dropped down from above. I watched as it darted after the two.

I staggered to my feet. I had to get away. I ran out from the alley, across the street. I was bathed in white light. A car was coming. I closed my eyes. And then...I was flying. Flying? The air was rushing past my face. The city was dropping away from my feet. Claws grasped my shoulders. I felt feathers against my face. My head was swimming. I felt my body go limp, and all went dark.


	2. Freak Amongst Freaks

Chapter Two: A Freak Among Freaks

I awoke after who knows how long. I remember the discomfort of my clothes-I'd never grown fully use to the things. The smell was the next thing that I noticed. Dust, mold, and...something else. I opened my eyes. I was on a heap of torn, dusty pillows, in some dark, dusty room. Sunlight shone through the boarded windows is bright planes and slits, in which the suspended particles in the air were visible. I sniffed again. I remembered what that strange smell was. It was the smell of a park pond, of water, algae, bird shit and feathers. A rustling caught my attention. I looked about the room, my weak eyes straining against the darkness. Movement. Then I saw it. A mutant.

It had to be. It was tall, about six feet. It had yellow webbed feet, backwards-bending knees, and thick, muscular thighs covered with grey feathers. Its bare torso was also covered in feathers, ruffled and torn in places, and apairof great, grey wings. It had a long, protruding face, with no nose, only two slits for nostrils, and a broad, lipless mouth, set atop a long, serpentine neck.

"That's Goose. He can't talk."

It was a young girl's voice that I had heard.

The voice had come from somewhere near the back of the room. Stood up, and nearly fell. I recalled that I hadn't eaten, and probably had a dangerously low blood sugar.

"Who're you?" I stammered, trying-in vain-to sound intimidating.

"I'm Hecate."

I had trouble figuring out what it was I was seeing. It seemed like I was talking to a large, dark cloud. The cloud faded, revealing a small, bald, and extremely pale girl. Not a girl, a young woman, it was hard for me to tell, impossible to care.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Mys...Raven. Just Raven."

I sat down. I was getting a killer migraine. The kid was standing there, looking down at me with an annoying smile, while the weird goose-freak sat down and starting preening like a bird.

"What's your deal kid? What do you do? You know, mutant...?"

She gasped, exhuberant.

"Ooh! I can bend the light around me. You know, make myself invisible, or create total darkness, or look like a mirage-"

"Great."

I leaned up against the wall. "Oy, my head."

"You need some advil?"

"That's be great kid, thanks. Some food wouldn't be bad."

"I'll go get some. What you say, Goose? You hungry?"

The weird bird man nodded, making a faint squeeking noise in his throat.

I thought about my job, then decided _fuck it._ They want to fire me? Whatever. Nothing really matters anymore. I'm alive, that's all I need, and that's all I can really stand.

A few minutes later the kid was back with burgers, coffee, and what looked like the loot from a pharmacy robbery.

"I got a whole bunch of different crap. Advil, motrin, aspirin, tylenol...and some coffee to take it with."

"Thank kid."

For Goose she brought a bag of white bread. She the bread out of the bag and set it in front of him, discarding the two end peices. The freak turned out to have two fingers and a thumb in the joint of its wings, and set to pulling the soft centers out of the slices and placing them in its toothless mouth.

We sat down on the cushions of the bare floor to eat. The burgers were greasy and cold, but it was food. I think I ate about four of those stupid things. The eating made the headache go away, and the coffee helped even more. After we finished eating, I decided to get the story straight.

"So, was it you and Mother Goose over there that saved my ass last night?"

"Oh, I don't go out after dark. Only Goose and Al go out at night."

"Oh, who's Al?"

She stood up and led me into the next room. And there he was, hanging by a clawed foot from the rafters. My 'savior' from the night before. She told me that he was born Alec Wales. He now went by the name Alucard, "Dracula" spelt backwards.

There I was, a born freak, now a human, a freak amongst freaks.


	3. Al

Notorious

I noticed at that moment that the man hanging from the ceiling was lookin at her. He dropped from the rafter, flipping over and landing on his feet.

"Hey," he said. I got the feeling that the guy was a creep. His eyes were wild, and he kept moving his eyebrows.

"Hello. I guess you're the guy who saved me."

"Well, you're lucky. A few seconds more, you'd have been...pardon my saying so...fucked."

Creep. I figured as much.

"Why did you take me here?"

"Well, first, don't think my rescue was in anyway an act of altruism on my part. Those guys were just to assholes I picked to drain because they certainly won't be missed-least of all, by you."

"You said 'drain'...you some kind of vampire or what?"

"My particular mutation means that I can't produce hemoglobin, requiring that I take it...from humans. My eyes are light-sensitive, and my skin cells are destroyed by ultra-violet rays. So, I sleep by day, drink the blood of the living by night...I'm even allergic to silver and to garlic. So, I might as well be."

"You still haven't told me why I'm here."

"Well, I'd have left you there myself...or killed you if I was hungry enough. Goose was with me, so he did the only thing he felt was right: pick you up and carry you someplace safe. Of course, for Goose, that was here."

"And...what are you planning on doing with me now?"

"You can stay, or go home if you want. 'Cate just thought you'd like to stay with your own kind."

"My...my own...?"

"Even in this feeble form, you are still the notorious Mystique."

For the first time in months, I heard my true name.


	4. Fun

"How do you know my name?"

He grinned. His mouth was filled with long, pointed fangs. Started to pace around the room. I was nervous. Weak as I was, there'd be nothing stopping him if he decided to attack me.

"Think…the famous Mystique, second-in-command to Magneto, big bad mutant guy supreme, disappears! She had to go somewhere. Besides, you fit the Fed's description."

"The Feds? How'd you get it out of them?"

"Oh, a few dead family members, a few broken shins."

I smiled. It felt good to hear another mutant hold those stupid homo sapiens in such disdain.

"Just humans, after all."

Mystique saw a rat-chewed wooden chair by the wall.

"Please, sit."

"Thanks," I told him. I made myself comfortable, and asked, "So, what d'you guys do for fun?"

He laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Darling, you're gonna love it!"


End file.
